Aftermath
by XiaoBai
Summary: Chapter 233 story. The aftermath of the battle between Sasuke and Naruto. What was Naruto thinking when he returned to Konoha? One-shot. Please R&R.


First shot at Naruto. Inspired by chapter 233 and 234 of the manga. ; ;

This story is the result of my thoughts about the final showdown between Naruto and Sasuke.

Also, please pardon my grammar. ;;

Warning: SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 233 AND 234. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Note: A slight hint of yaoi in here, but that is if you look closely. Also, a little bit of OOC in everyone.

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Aftermath.

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During the last showdown between the Chidori and Rasengan, Naruto finally realized that no matter what he do, Sasuke would never come back to Konoha with him.

His eyebrows furrowed together in sorrow when he came to realize that even if Naruto had beaten Sasuke within an inch of his life, Sasuke would probably run away again once he recovered.

His hand moved from Sasuke's chest and went straight for his hitai-tae. The force of the Rasengan hit the metal plate hard and Naruto's hand jerked from the resultant force. His hand moved briefly across the plate and a loud grating sound was heard.

Sasuke, ever the genius ninja, aimed straight for Naruto's heart and Naruto panicked slightly; his remaining left hand was totally numb and he couldn't move it. However, all Naruto felt was a pressure on his left chest. His hand pushed harder into the metal and he saw Sasuke winced at the force. The scratch on the Konoha sign went deeper.

Slowly, but steadily, Naruto felt his strength ebbed away from his body. He stared into Sasuke's crimson Sharingan and saw the same sorrow he had felt. As the light from the chakra explosion spread around him, he felt a mutual understanding between the two of them. This time he truly feel the bond he had with Sasuke, and it felt like he was remembering a missing scene in his childhood memories in which he and Sasuke were holding fingers in a close but respectful way.

Then the light became too bright and Naruto squeezed his eyes shut. Everything went black for a long time afterwards.

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He awoke to the sound of Kakashi-sensei's voice and the rain splattering on the ground, but he was too exhausted to keep his eyes opened for long. Soon after he closed his eyes, he went to sleep again.

When he finally woke up, he was staring at the ceiling of the hospital ward. There was the sound of rain hitting the window glass and the faint rumble of thunder. His eyes widened in shock and he tried to sit up, but his body won't move.

"Naruto? Are you awake?" Sakura's voice said and her face appeared above him.

Naruto tried to speak, but all that came out was a hoarse croak. Sakura blinked in realization and hurried off to get a cup of water. Naruto managed to shake his head and Sakura stopped. There was a flash out side the window and a loud roar of thunder was heard.

'_Sasuke?'_ He mouthed anxiously and felt his heart sank when he saw Sakura's dejected face.

"Sasuke-kun did not come back with Kakashi-sensei and you..." Sakura said.

Naruto closed his eyes in pain and then forced his body to sit, but Sakura pushed him back into the bed.

"You should not get up, Naruto. I'll get you a cup of water." Sakura smiled briefly at him and then walked off.

After Naruto drained the cup, he forced himself to sit despite Sakura's warnings. Naruto shook his head and then looked down on to his knees.

"I'm sorry," He said softly and Sakura stopped in her arguing. The rain became heavier and it was pelting heavily on the glass panel. For a moment, Naruto thought Sakura might have missed his words. He said it again.

"I'm sorry."

Sakura kept silent, but she did not look at him.

"I...I broke my promise, Sakura-chan..." Naruto continued and then stopped suddenly to control himself. He knew he was going to cry.

Sakura sat heavily in the chair beside the bed and Naruto started again.

"I tried to bring him back, really, I did...but he...he turned around and said he is going to _kill_ me. And I realized that he could really kill me calmly."

At this, he heard Sakura gasped sharply, but he did not stop.

"I got angry, Sakura, angry that he would forget the times we spent together as Team 7. And then, I flew at him and all I could think about was methods to paralyse him so that I can bring him back..."

"But he completed his Sharingan, Sakura. It has three wheels now. And he said he had to kill me to make it even more powerful. He said his brother told him to use the Mange Sharingan to defeat him. Then he went on saying that he would break the bond between us, Sakura-chan, and I was losing and he was going to let me _drown_! Then I heard Kyuubi talking and he helped me and then--"

"_Naruto_!" Sakura interrupted. She was shaking his shoulders slightly and there was a worried look on his face. But he saw tears in her eyes and at that instant, Naruto thought that Sakura might have cried her eyes out before he woke. His eyebrows furrowed together and he felt tears running down his face.

"I'm sorry, SakuraI'm really sorry!" He sobbed in regret, guilt and sorrow. He remembered now that it was not Sasuke who broke the bond. It was Naruto who had scratched Sasuke's hitai-tae and thus, severing his ties with Konoha.

"But he wanted to go so much! I can't stop him, Sakura, _I couldn't do it_!" He cried hysterically and his hands tightened around the blankets.

"Naruto." Sakura said firmly and lifted his head to look at him in the eye, "Stop it. I...I don't blame you..."

But Naruto knew that Sakura blamed him and even hated him, even if she had pushed those emotions away. He shook his head tiredly and kept on muttering 'I'm sorry' all over again. He lowered his head and closed his eyes and he felt Sakura's hands hesitated.

Then the door opened and Naruto heard Tsunade's voice. He did not look up.

"Sakura-san. Visiting hours is over." Tsunade said.

He felt Sakura's hands left him and he heard her moving out of the room. Even without looking up, Naruto knew Sakura had looked back at him many times, hoping that he would at least look at her. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. The guilt and the regret in him were so strong that they hurt.

Then, all of the sudden, he felt warm arms wrapped around him and his face was pressed into Tsunade's chest. He looked up at the fifth Hokage in surprise and saw her smiling sadly at him. One of her hands was stroking his hair and the other was rubbing his back. For a moment, Naruto wondered if this was how a mother would act. He closed in eyes in pain and felt tears welling up in them when he realized that he had lost his 'brother'.

"It's all right." Tsunade said gently, "Cry it all out."

Naruto choked, and as tears fall rapidly again, he sobbed uncontrollably. The arms around him tightened slightly and he buried himself in Tsunade's warm embrace, damping her clothes with all his tears.

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Three days later, Naruto finally recovered and he was released from the hospital. His first thought was to check out Neji and Chouji. The two of them were seriously injured when they were brought back and were currently kept in close observation in the ICU.

Naruto clenched his fist when he realized that his two fellow ninjas had almost died for nothing and felt guilt rise up in him again.

'_If I had managed to get him back..._' He thought before shaking his head violently.

"_Stop it_!" Naruto said angrily and hit himself hard on the head, "Regretting won't do any good."

Taking a deep breath, Naruto exited his ward and moved slowly to the ICU section. He saw four people sitting on the bench outside the rooms and felt his insides turn in uneasiness. He saw Hinata's tear streaked face and Tenten's look of despair. Ino was sitting between the two of them, clasping their hands in hers. Sakura was on Hinata's right, staring at something in her hands.

Naruto looked away in pain and was about to walk away when he heard Ino.

"Naruto?"

Naruto stopped and turned around slowly. The other three had looked up too and he saw mixed emotions in their eyes. He saw Hinata's relieve, but Tenten still had her worried look. His eyes slid over Sakura and looked at Ino instead, who was looking very tired.

"Ino." Naruto greeted briefly, "How's...the two of them?"

Ino's eyes shut in worry and she said, "The doctors are working very hard to patch up their wounds..."

Naruto wanted to know more about the seriousness of their wounds, but he couldn't ask her in front of Hinata and Tenten. Sighing quietly, he managed a smile at Ino and turned to walk away.

"N-Naruto?" Sakura suddenly said, but Naruto did not stop. He couldn't bring himself to look at her right now.

"Naruto, wait!" Sakura stood from her seat and grabbed his arm. Naruto flinched out of her touch, but he stopped in his steps.

"Can...can we talk?" Sakura asked quietly, and Naruto could feel her eyes boring into him. He nodded slightly and moved away, knowing that Sakura would follow him.

He led Sakura into the hospital park and then sat down on the first bench he could find. It was underneath a tall willow tree and in front of a small lake. Sakura slid into the seat beside him and the two of them were silent for a moment.

Naruto asked first, " How serious are the wounds?"

Even without saying the names, Sakura knew whom Naruto was talking about, "Neji lost a lot of blood and there is a big hole near his stomach...the doctors are trying to re-grow his cells as quickly as possible. Chouji...the doctor said that there is something wrong with his muscles...and his chakra is extremely unstable...Tsunade-sama is working on him."

Naruto closed his eyes and clenched his fist after Sakura stopped and lowered his head. After another few moments of silence, Sakura opened her mouth.

"Kakashi-sensei gave me this." She said and took out something from her pocket.

Naruto swallowed when he saw the scratched hitai-tae and looked away at once.

"Naruto," Sakura said again, "I want you keep this."

But Naruto shook his head.

"No, Sakura-chan." Naruto said quietly, "I have no right to keep it. I...I scratched it, Sakura. I break the bond first. You...you should keep it."

"No," Sakura said, and Naruto was a little surprised by the determination in her voice. She took his hands and placed the hitai-tae in it.

"You are wrong, Naruto." Sakura said softly and Naruto looked up from the scratched metal plate. She was smiling sadly at him.

"I can't stop him because I am not someone special to him." Sakura continued and Naruto opened his mouth to object.

"But you are different, Naruto." Sakura said before Naruto could say a word, " He had always been looking at you, whether as a rival or as a friend. But he was always looking at you. Not me, Naruto. To him, I might be a teammate, a friend, but never as special as you."

"He might not have told you this before, but I feel that you are the most special person to him."

Naruto's eyes widened slightly as he remembered Sasuke's words.

"_You are the closest friend I ever had." _

"Keep it, Naruto, and when one day, he finally return, give this back to him. You are the one to take it from him, so you should also be the one to keep it until the day it returns to its rightful owner."

"You really believe he will come back." Naruto said quietly. Sakura nodded determinedly.

"I _know_ he will come back to Konoha one day." She said. Then, Sakura clasped her hands tightly in his and Naruto saw tears shimmering in her green eyes.

"I really don't blame you, Naruto. I don't think I have the right to."

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He looked at the scratched metal plate sitting on the table with the blue cloth folded neatly underneath it. Then, he took out the wooden box he had bought with his savings and set it on the table beside the hitai-tae.

"He will come back, huh." Naruto muttered, his blue eyes staring unwaveringly at the scratched Konoha sign.

Naruto opened the box slowly, and then with two hands, he picked up the metal plate carefully and placed it gently in the box. Closing it, he sealed the box with his chakra and then padded across the room to his drawer. He stopped when he saw the Team 7 picture sitting on the drawer and stared at it for a long time.

Finally, Naruto snapped out of his thoughts and put the box into the first drawer.

Then he sealed the drawer with his chakra again and looked at the Sasuke in the picture. There was a trace of determination in his blue eyes.

"He will return."

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Owari. 

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Hope you like it. Please R&R.


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